A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Down Following Thursday's Rally

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones jumped more than 400 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from UP Fintech Holding Limited TIGR and CNFinance Holdings Limited CNF.

Data on existing home sales and index of leading economic indicators will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin is set to speak at 12:30 p.m. ET, while Chicago Fed President Charles Evans will speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 150 points to 34,311.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 24.50 points to 4,385.75. Futures for the Nasdaq index fell 81.75 points to 14,030.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $107.55 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1% to trade at $104.02 a barrel. US natural-gas supplies dropped 79 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration said Thursday. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 81,350,880 with around 996,070 deaths. India reported a total of at least 43,004,000 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 29,527,640 cases.

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A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.2%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.4% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2%. The French CAC 40 Index dipped 0.7%, while German DAX fell 0.8%. Italy recorded a trade deficit of EUR 5.052 billion in January versus a year-ago surplus of EUR 1.584 billion.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.65%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.41% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.12%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6%, while India’s BSE SENSEX rose 1.8%. The Bank of Japan held its key short-term interest rate unchanged at -0.1% at its latest meeting. Japanese consumer prices increased by 0.9% year-over-year in February following a 0.5% increase a month ago.

Broker Recommendation

Piper Sandler downgraded Wingstop Inc. WING from Overweight to Underweight and lowers the price target from $195 to $102.

Wingstop shares fell 2.2% to $118.43 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• FedEx Corporation FDX reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its third quarter, while sales exceeded estimates. The company said it expects an adjusted EPS of $20.50 to $21.50.
• Tesla Inc TSLA on Friday resumed production at Giga Shanghai following a two-day suspension, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
• GameStop Corp GME reported a net loss for the fourth quarter on Thursday. Its net sales increased 6.2% to $1.88 billion, while its gross profit shrank 15.7% during the quarter.
• United States Steel Corp X issued weak earnings forecast for the first quarter. The company said it sees Q1 adjusted earnings to be in the range of $2.96 to $3 per share versus the estimate of $3.77 per share.

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